The Best Restaurants in Brenham, Texas

Leonard Botello IV opened Truth in Brenham and landed it at number 10 on Texas Monthly's 2017 Top 50 Barbecue Joints list, the only Washington County entry on that list and the recognition that turned a roadside pit into a destination. The company later opened a Houston location on South Heights Boulevard, and that second shop is the one carrying the more recent Texas Monthly rankings, so treat statewide top ten talk as Houston news and come to Brenham for the original.

It is first because nothing else in Brenham pulls people off the highway on purpose. The brisket and the pork spare ribs are the order, the cakes are made in house, and the model is the standard Texas one, which is that the pit cooks a set amount and stops when it is gone.

96 West describes its own kitchen as farm-to-table tapas fusion, which in practice means small plates built to share alongside wine and craft beer rather than a plated entree format. The Brenham and Washington County visitor bureau lists it as a contemporary downtown restaurant with seafood, steaks and vegetarian options plus craft cocktails, and the kitchen runs a separate Sunday brunch menu.

Second, and first if you want a real dinner. It is the only downtown room where the wine list, the bar and the kitchen are all taken seriously at once, and the posted hours are unusually generous for a town this size, with a Saturday that opens at 11am and runs to 10pm.

An Italian bistro that makes its pasta in house and rounds the menu out with soups, salads and sandwiches, with gluten free options noted by the visitor bureau. The Brenham Chamber dining directory and the bureau's own Foodies Guide both list it, and AAA carries a listing as well, which is more third-party coverage than most restaurants in a town of this size collect.

Third because it does the hardest thing on this list consistently, which is fresh pasta in a small market, and because the lunch menu is good enough that it works as an ordinary weekday stop rather than only an occasion.

The visitor bureau's Foodies Guide says Volare has been popular with locals since 1998 and names the handmade pasta and the sauces as the reason. That makes it the longest running Italian kitchen in Brenham by a wide margin, and the Chamber dining directory lists it at the same South Ross Street address it has held through that run.

Fourth rather than third only because Brossa's has the broader menu and the fresher third-party coverage. On the pasta itself these two are close, and locals split between them, which is why both are here.

A bakery and cafe on West Alamo that the visitor bureau's guide credits with scratch-made pies frequently paired with Blue Bell ice cream, which is made in Brenham and is the thing most visitors associate with the town. The savoury side is soups, sandwiches and salads, so it functions as a full lunch rather than a dessert stop.

Fifth because it is the single most useful address on this list for a visitor. It is open daily except Wednesday, it is a short walk from the courthouse square, and it closes at 3pm, which makes it a lunch plan rather than a dinner one.

A modern pub listed by the visitor bureau for gourmet pizzas, craft beer and cocktails, and described in directory listings as running a coffee bar alongside the kitchen. The front of the room reads family, the back is a bar with an adult room feel, and the patio is dog friendly. Listings connect it to 96 West as a sister operation.

Sixth because the pizza is the reason to come and the range is the reason to stay, but the published hours are the least consistent of anything on this list across the sources we checked.

The Chamber dining directory lists BT Longhorn in its steak and seafood section at 205 South Baylor, and the thing visitors and reviewers consistently single out is the room, built around an imported antique bar, along with the service. We will be straight about the food, because public reviews are genuinely split on the steaks, with more than one diner reporting a thin cut, while the gumbo and the non-steak plates draw steadier praise.

Seventh, and included for the room and the service rather than on the strength of the ribeye. If you want a Brenham steakhouse evening this is the one downtown address for it. Order with the split reviews in mind.

To be clear about the geography, Bevers Kitchen is not in Brenham. It is in Chappell Hill, about 12 miles east on the way to Houston, and it is in Washington County rather than the city. We are including it labelled honestly because it is the one kitchen in the county that outside publications keep coming back to, with Texas Highways carrying address and hours and the Brenham Chamber listing it as a member.

The draw is chicken fried steak, burgers and a pie case described in coverage as running to nearly three dozen homemade flavours. Eighth because of the drive, not the cooking.